There’s no one who saw her speak last night who could not have left knowing that, for all her faults, she deserved that presidency and it was stolen from her. Now it’s our job to claim that power back.

Last night I was in the same room as Hillary Clinton – and the 2,500 other people who, within two hours of the tickets being released, sold out the London theatre where she was being interviewed.

Despite our relative proximity, the audience’s fidgety anticipation and adrenaline-fuelled nerves were in no way reflected back at us as Clinton presented her usual calm, charming, witty and breathtakingly eloquent self.

She didn’t say much you won’t already have heard if you’ve listened to any of the myriad interviews she’s been giving while promoting her book about the 2016 election campaign, the poignantly titled What Happened.

But in those 90 minutes I spent in the audience, furiously taking notes and revelling in the buzzing atmosphere, I saw for the first time that she shouldn’t just have won that election because she was the voters’ rightful choice, or because of the sickening alternative that came to be, but because the passion and awe she can inspire with the faintest of smiles or by answering the driest of questions is unparalleled.

…But it’s not just her clear credentials, experience, level-headedness and mind-boggling intelligence which would have made her a great president; it’s her humanity, humility, humour and genuine passion that really hit me when I saw her speak live.

As a woman with the temerity to think I have the right to publicly voice my opinions, I’m no stranger to having abuse and threats hurled at me by droves of strangers over the internet. Yet I will never – hopefully – be able to fathom the level of vitriol Clinton has endured.

And yet at every fall Clinton gets up, dusts herself off, and climbs back into the ring for another round. Some may think it’s masochism, or a desperation to stay relevant, and I’ll admit that her strength seems so alien that sometimes I’ve wondered too.

But seeing her onstage speaking so passionately about the positive change she hopes to make in the world made me realise she’s dedicated her life to the causes she believes in because someone has to. The rest of us don’t get it because most of us would never be willing to make such sacrifices.

Reddie AU- Richie Tozier, a 17 year old broken boy in a broken home and his best friend/first love, Eddie Kaspbrak, a 16 year old mute boy who’s silence is loud enough to keep Richie sane.

hey guys! i hope you enjoy this chapter even though I’m convinced it turned out like shit. I’m sorry it took awhile to post but I’ve actually been fairly busy recently ( i even have a job interview tomorrow ) so thank you for being patient AND FOR 200 FOLLOWERS!!! wow i love u all.

I have this story idea where this court basically control the whole town. And its a lot of peoples main goal in life is to join It and become all powerful. But im trying to think of reasons someone might even be eligible to join (theres only 9 spots in all the court) . And like the idea that the court favors the rich and powerful but still really hard to actually get in. I have a few ideas, but im trying to think of at least 9? Could you help me? Thanks!

Three references from (some kind of snooty establishment) required for consideration.

Must complete an intensive interview process testing various areas of knowledge. (This will put people with lower educations at a disadvantage. Can also be a subjective requirement so they can pick whoever they want).

Must be able to finance their own trial including room and board during selection process as well as entrance fees.

Access to (some kind of rare but irrelevant item or location) required.

Must excess during physical competition. No assistance or accommodations will be provided.

Applicant must also receive at least (a number that is really high but makes sense for your world) pledges from townspeople (if you want to be really intense maybe there could be some kind of risk to this pledge, like a blood oath).

The final one could be a secret that isn’t revealed until they have a group of finalists.

I know that isn’t nine but I hope that helps give you some more ideas!

Micromanagement: Typically manifest as control freaks. Rules and oversight should be used for coordination, not control. It kills motivation and breeds resentment when someone breathes down your neck because it shows the people you manage that you have no faith in their abilities. At this point in my career and with my professional experience, I have little to no tolerance for this kind of behavior.

Inconsistency: Typically manifest as flakes. Be a woman or man of your word, communicate clearly and consistently, and don’t be flaky or wishy-washy. If I can’t trust your words, I can’t trust your direction which makes it nearly impossible to follow your lead. The bigger problem with inconsistency is that it shows your team a disregard for their schedules, stress levels, and work loads. When you make split second changes to plans, procrastinate, or confuse your team you negatively impact their lives.

Ego: Typically manifest as bad listeners and arrogant asses. The egotistical leader is bad at receiving input, often throws other people under the bus to save face and avoid accountability, and is insensitive to the needs of their team because they always put themselves first. Projects are already challenging due to external battles like tight schedules, tight budgets, and tough clients– the last thing you need is an internal battle with your leader. Again, at this point in my career and in the wise words of the great philosopher Miss Sweet Brown: “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

To answer the “how would you describe yourself?” question– choose the top three qualities of yourself relevant to the position you’re applying for.

If it’s a project manager position for a tech startup then describe yourself as organized, results driven, and people oriented.

If it’s a social worker position for a community clinic then describe yourself as compassionate/empathetic, patient, and a strong communicator.

If it’s a graphic designer position then describe yourself as creative, innovative, and client focused.

Today we’re joined by Brie. Brie is a phenomenal young aspiring artist who specializes in visual art. She enjoys drawing people, including some original characters, and dabbles in fanart as well. Her work shows an incredible attention to detail and a sense of whimsy as well. Brie is a very enthusiastic and passionate artist, as you’ll soon read. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.

WORK

Please, tell us about
your art.

My
art is mainly people because, well that’s really what I know I can do. I like
to draw specific people as well as
making up and drawing my own characters!

What inspires you?

I’m
inspired by the pits of hell I called my brain as well anything I see around my
school and in my everyday life

What got you
interested in your field? Have you
always wanted to be an artist?

To
be completely honest when I was little I really wanted to be a fashion designer
but I have always loved drawing and up until last year I hadn’t really done any
drawing but then I got really bored in my math class and I started up again! I
have honestly never been more thankful for a really boring teacher!

Do you have any kind
of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work
that you’d be willing to reveal?

The
only thing that really comes to mind is that I always put my signature
somewhere in my drawing, but other than that I can’t really find anything else.

What advice would you
give young aspiring artists?

Some
advice that I could give any young artists would be, and although it sounds
very cliché, but honestly don’t give up on what your working on, if you feel as
if you have no good ideas just draw or write about it anyway, even if it turns
out bad, DO IT ANYWAY!

ASEXUALITY

Where on the spectrum
do you identify?

I
identify as a homoromantic asexual

Have you encountered
any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?

Sadly,
I live in a very Christian family and my grandmother is quite homophobic, so I
haven’t really told anyone save some of my close friends. Whenever I bring up
any form of conversation about asexual stuff, I get told “no you’ll find someone”
and stuff like that and honestly I have never had so many quick change
conversations about food in my life.

What’s the most
common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?

The
biggest misconception I find about asexuality is that most people think that
people who are ace have no emotions, and anytime anyone askes me so you don’t
have emotions right I just have to stare at them so a minute, then morph into a
purple dragon and fly away form the stupidity.

What advice would you
give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their
orientation?

Some
advice I could give would probably be just go with what feels right, go with
the one that makes you genuinely happy and see where it goes from there!

Did you have to study before becoming a docent? Is there a base level knowledge of the zoo you are supposed to have before volunteering? Are there levels of docent?

Yes, I had to study a lot. You don’t need any base level of knowledge before you start - what you need is a willingness to learn, enthusiasm about the gig, and an ability to talk to a lot of different people in a lot of different circumstances.

Currently, my zoo has a three-step process for becoming a docent.

If you want to volunteer, you apply online and they do an interview (mostly to see your demeanor, ask why you want to do it, etc). If they like you, you get invited to become a volunteer. Here are the steps.

1. Adult Volunteer, Year One. There are certain areas of the zoo that must be staffed at all times. We refer to them as “animal contact areas” although many of them involve no actual animal contact. If there are not enough volunteers, FT or PT staff from the education department fill in the gaps. These areas include giraffe feeding, the touch pool in the aquarium, the keeper lab in the reptile building (where you can pet snakes), the Kangaroo Walkabout, the Asia Quest Aviary, the Lorikeet Garden, My Barn (the petting zoo) and I know I’m missing some but anyway. A first-year adult volunteer may only work certain animal contact areas. The training for each area is no more than a few hours and it’s very specific for just that task. I think first-year AVs work the touchpool, the keeper lab, the Barn…I’m not sure the exact breakdown.

2. Adult Volunteer, Year Two. After you’ve got a year under your belt you can graduate to the other animal contact areas. I think these include giraffe feeding, the kangaroo walkabout, some others. You get your training in those specific areas.

Because the animal contact areas must be staffed, you sign up for a shift if you want to work there (that goes for adult volunteers and docents both) and you’re expected to show up.

If, after two years as an adult volunteer, the zoo is happy with how you talk to guests, how well you know your stuff, you show up for your shifts, etc, you can be invited to take part in docent training and become a docent. It’s optional - some volunteers are happy to stay adult volunteers and just work the Asia Quest aviary or whatever. That’s great! But if you want, you can take the training and swap your dark-green AV shirt for a red docent shirt.

And it’s some training, man. I think currently it’s eight weeks in a row, all day Saturday (like 8-4 or something). Each week covers a different area of the zoo (our zoo is laid out in regions). Morning is classroom - the keepers come and lecture on the animals there, in general and in terms of our specific animals, and in the afternoon you go out into the region and learn the layout and more about our actual animals. You can’t miss a class, so you have to have eight Saturdays in a row free. It’s a commitment.

After training is over, there’s a mentorship period where you go out into the zoo and Do the Docent Thing with an experienced docent as a mentor. He or she will help you navigate how to talk to guests, where to stand, what to say, how to interact, etc. I do this for some of the new docents sometimes.

You’re NOT required to have all the information committed to memory. It’s a LOT. Most new docents keep a notebook or a file of notecards to consult if they need a fact - remembering how old all the animals are and their names is a job, lemme tell you. New docents get very nervous about remembering everything - we try to assure them that it’s okay not to know, just don’t make stuff up if you don’t. Telling the animals apart can be a trip, too. I still can’t tell our brown bear brothers apart, they look almost identical. The gorillas I have no problem. Elephants too. The giraffes can be a challenge - we have twelve. You have to find a landmark on their spots that you can use to identify them. Our two polar bear sisters look so identical that the keepers use hair dye to mark one of their paws so that they (and we) can tell them apart.

But once your training is over, you’re a docent! Congrats. As a docent, you can work animal contact areas if you like (you still have to take that specific training for that area), but most docents do what’s called “working the region.” You come in and just…pick a region and go there. Park yourself at one exhibit, or wander the region if you like moving around. Answer questions, give directions, talk to guests about the animals and the conservation projects, etc. This is totally free-form. Show up whenever, stay as long as you want. No schedules. When we arrive we sign in a book for where we’re going to be, so that informs my decision. If I look at the book and see there are already 6 docents in Asia Quest, I might choose to go to Congo Expedition or North America instead.

Some docents do nothing but work regions. Some like to do contact areas. Many do both. Some docents only work one area, some like to mix it up. Docents sometimes also work behind the scenes helping prep the animals’ diets (it’s a lot of vegetable chopping). There are always watches to do (both in the public aisles and behind the scenes, often overnight as well) and tours and special events to help run and projects to help with, like making new enrichment items or helping set up and tear down fundraising events. We do a lot of different things. We are also required to keep going to educational meetings as part of our hours requirement, to keep us up to date on the animals in the regions.

Once you’re a docent, your first year you’re probationary, but after that we’re all just docents. Although each region does have a docent region leader. He or she is responsible for communicating between the docents and the keepers, finding people do to watches in their region, finding ways for volunteers to help the staff (like collecting enrichment items, talking up fundraisers, getting volunteers for special events in the region, etc). They work for 3 year terms and then a new region leader takes over. It’s a big job.

When I became a docent, this system had not yet been implemented. If you applied to be a docent, you went directly to docent. The problem was that for awhile there’d been a pretty high attrition rate - docents who did all the training and then just sort of dropped out or stopped showing up. It was decided then that everyone would have to be an adult volunteer first, so they could see what they were getting into, and if they liked it and wanted to keep doing it, without the zoo investing in two months’ of training on them. It seems to have worked out pretty well.

Isn't weird that all the boys have performances n promos lined up but not zayn. Like seriously for someone who left the band first we have seen him perform like 3 times but wen u look at others they have started this year but performed like 100 times

Hi Nonnie,

You’re absolutely right. I think people realized Zayn’s situation wasn’t normal when the other boys went solo. And yeah, outside Zane Lowe and some print interviews, Zayn went ghost after DTD’s release. On the other hand, Harry and Niall have a tour going, Liam, Louis and Niall have multiple live appearances not to mention interviews in different medias. They’re all on promo season at the same time but Zayn is nowhere to be seen. How can you see that and not find it fishy? The other boys’ teams are doing a great job - minus maybe Louis’ - but Zayn’s is terrible. I just don’t understand what their agenda is. What’s the use of sabotaging your artist’s career? What can you possibly gain in the long run?

Idk if you’ve heard but Adam driver is cancelled........ Basically there was an old interview and to sum it up he wants brown people dead

Yes he’s totally cancelled for saying something when he was 18 that was influenced by seeing his fellow Americans killed by a terrorist attack…. if you think he’s cancelled (when he’s obviously changed his ways since 15 years ago) then the whole American population is cancelled for going through a period where fear led to unreasonable anger at a specific race in 2001. Honestly, I’m not saying it’s right, but you have to see things from other people’s POV. Adam said something dumb when he was 18, wow okay, you act as if every 18 year old is supposed to be some untainted angel.
You know what IS cancelled? Bringing up things from LITERALLY 15 YEARS AGO to justify your hateful attitude towards a man you don’t even know.

ahhh okay so i applied for this daycare substitution program (basically i sub for sick employees) and it doesn’t have any set hours i get to decide my schedule and i got a text back from one of the people and they wanna set up a phone interview and i’m really nervous because i suck at phone conversations :(

Do you think Eliza is problematic? I’ve seen a lot of people say this and I don’t know why

I think a lot of it has got to do with the answers she’s given at cons and interviews in the past about bellarke, L’s death as well as Clarke’s sexuality ( which I don’t wanna get too into because I feel I’m not entitled). In my personal opinion, I think some of the things she’s said in the past are wrong but I doubt she said any of that because she’s a horrible person but because she was trying to for the most part protect herself from backlash. Back when Cl/exa was in it’s prime time a lot of the answers she would give were meant to appeal to that part of the fandom which pissed off a lot of people but I’ve noticed that lately her strategy has improved a little in that she’s not so biased anymore. I do like E/liza, she genuienly seems like a really nice person and I support her because she plays Clarke who is one of my favourite characters as well as half of my OTP, although I’ll always be a tinsy bit bitter about “bellarke shit”. Just a tiny bit.

I have a very important question: which coffee drink do you think would Victor and Yuri's favorites be? Americano? Pumpkin spice? I must know!

Victor and Yuuri both seem like simple people that would get plain coffee or Americano most of the time. But they’d enjoy other kinds of coffee drinks if given the opportunity, especially Victor.

Victor is usually a busy person with press interviews and such he wouldn’t have much time to think of what to have and would want to hurry up and get his coffee and the interviews and such done as soon as possible, or someone from the staff or maybe Yakov would just hand him w/e coffee was available and he’d take it. I don’t think he’d like the bitter taste, but his tongue has gotten accustomed to it that he doesn’t bother to sweeten it. But the first time Victor has a pumpkin spice latte he’s hooked and orders it whenever and wherever its available. Victor wouldn’t mind buying overpriced coffee. as long as its good tasting coffee.

Yuuri probably only drank much coffee when he was in Detroit and needs something to give him energy in the morning before class or practice. At his home in Hasetsu he seems more of a tea person. Once autumn hits in Detroit he probably wouldn’t be able to escape the pumpkin spice fever so he and Phichit would pretty much drink pumpkin spice lattes the entire season. In the winter it switches to peppermint mocha lattes.

I would say they both would enjoy pumpkin spice lattes at this time of year, but Victor enjoys it more than Yuuri and thus would order large quantities of it and stock their cupboards full that they would have to drink it even after autumn ends. Yurio would complain they have too much coffee in their apartment and tell them to buy hot chocolate or something for a change.

“Here’s the thing: I grew up in Kentucky. I sold insurance door-to-door. I sold ladies’ shoes. I worked at an all-night liquor store. I would buy suits that were too big and too long and cut the bottom of the pants off to make ties so I’d have a tie to go on job interviews. I grew up understanding what it was like to not have health insurance for eight years.”

“So this idea that I’m somehow the “Hollywood elite” and this guy who takes a shit in a gold toilet is somehow the man of the people is laughable.”

“People in Hollywood, for the most part, are people from the Midwest who moved to Hollywood to have a career. So this idea of ‘coastal elites’ living in a bubble is ridiculous. Who lives in a bigger bubble? He [Trump] lives in a gold tower and has twelve people in his company. He doesn’t run a corporation of hundreds of thousands of people he employs and takes care of. He ran a company of twelve people!”

“When you direct a film you have seven different unions all wanting different things, you have to find consensus with all of them, and you have to get them moving in the same direction. He’s never had to do any of that kind of stuff. I just look at it and I laugh when I see him say 'Hollywood elite.’ Hollywood elite? I don’t have a star on Hollywood Boulevard, Donald Trump has a star on Hollywood Boulevard! Fuck you!”

If anyone is searching for Design, Art, Illustration, Etc. work online through job sites beware. I was recently scammed by people pretending to belong to a real, existing design company. I didn’t notice the red flags because I was so desperate to get a job in my field. Its silly now that I didn’t notice them.

They contact you with your information that they gather through job host sites like Indeed and e-mail you asking you to send them your resume/portfolio and a cover letter. Real enough right? Then its gets weird. They then notify you you’ve been ‘accepted to the next stage of the interview process.’ They want to have an interview through Google Chat.

This was the biggest red flag I missed. No interview is done without speaking. There are phone interviews, skype interviews, but no chat interviews.

Of course I ‘aced the interview’ (cause its a scam) and they said they would e-mail me my contract of hire (a pages doc with no letter head. Fishy.) and a pdf copy of a check to deposit for equipment purchase through their vendor.

Funnily enough their check didn’t cash. (duh duh duh) and when I chatted with them on the chat about it they asked if I could ‘front the money until the check cleared on the 12th.’ I said no, I can’t afford that. Then they asked if I could front half. That’s when I smelled a rat, and so did my dad. How does a multi billion dollar company owned by Microsoft not have the dough to cover new employee equipment costs?

I stalled the guy in the chat and my dad and I searched the company for listed complaints. We found out they had attempted to scam dozens of designers like me. They ‘hire you’ then immediately try to extract your bank info from you after cutting you an equipment coverage check.

I blocked the guy on Gchat. Unsurprisingly the check dissolved. I reported the scam to my bank and made sure my account was secure. Luckily they didn’t get my bank info or SS Number. Still they got too much info on me for my liking, including my name, birthday and parents address (current home address).

Today (two days later) after the sting of embarrassment of being duped passed, I got an e-mail from Creative Circle (a company I also seek employment through) who has had lots of report of similar people being scammed into fake jobs to extract their info.

PLEASE be careful. I know phones and interviews are stressful and chat interviews sound all good but they are FAKE.Please stay safe. And remember if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Research your companies, check employee statements on Glassdoor or even Google. If you’re still unsure contact the company’s HR department. Talk to a live human. Don’t be like me, don’t be blinded by your need or desire to find a job in your field that you miss the obvious signs. Looking back I still feel like a total idiot but this idiot is hoping to save fellow idiots the trouble.Watch for scammers. Be smart. Be safe.Love, Skidar.

to those concerned about that recent interview, there was something in there that i found really interesting!!! [“we arent trying to cater or bait anyone.” and ”we’re just trying to do what’s right for the story.”] this is actually super interesting because that implies that all of those klance™ moments in the show are “right for the story” and not catering or baiting! Things like the ‘i cradled you in my arms’ and the ‘we are a good team’ scene? Those were right for the story, not baiting or catering. (which i mention mainly because i’m always worried about that kind of stuff)

of course they aren’t going to say whether or not klance will be canon (they certainly were trying to avoid confirming/disconfirming it) and I’m confused as to why the interviewer would bring it up when they should know that. either way, the possibility of klance has been heavily implied in the show from the beginning and as this interview specifically talks about how they won’t change the story as a result of fandom, i don’t think this interview is any cause to worry about klance.

You sent your CV and got a call back? Congratulations. But now you’re facing the most frightening part of the job: the interview.

No honestly, I’m joking, this isn’t as bad as we were told. And here’s what I learnt from it.

1. Stay NATURAL

You almost have the job. Don’t try to impress them too much, just stay faithful to who you are. Wear casual clothes, not a lot of make up, tie your hair (or at least brush it) and if you are wearing nailpolish, check that it isn’t cracked. Honestly, wearing cracked nailpolish during an interview just says that you’re messy and not organised. Don’t forget to smile, no one would like to hire someone always grumpy!

2. Do your homework

Remember the description of the job? Well that’s very important, state all the criterias that was asked in the description and make sure to tell your interviewer that you’ve got all the qualities the job requires.

Learn about the company, when was it created, do they have other shops, what do they sell/do, what are the prices and what type of people will you have to face. Google is your best friend for that.

3. Get ready to answer questions

It’s D-Day, you’re sat at the table and the interviewer is here. Get ready for the questions. Nothing exciting to be fair. “Why do you think you’ll be good at this job?” “What brought you to apply to this job?” “Did you know about *the company* before?”

And then they will ask you about your skills. Learn your CV and don’t hesitate to repeat it and add more details. For exemple: “I know how to work in a team very well because ….*add previous experience*”. They sometimes ask you how people would describe you or what are your flaws/qualities. Be honest.

If you don’t have any experience,put everything on your skills and link them to school. Interviewers know if you have experience or not. They will also understand that you’ve been focused on your studies and that’s okay. Don’t try to hide it, be proud of it.

4. Interview your interviewer

Your interviewer will ask you a lot of questions but at some point he will ask you if you have any questions. And now, honey, it will be your time TO SHINE. Fire away, honestly it’s very embarassing to have nothing to say, it’s a bit like “oh well, just taking the job, not really fussed about anything”. Find something! Are you allowed nailpolish, do you have a uniform, what time do they open, are they closed during holiday, what will be your salary, do you have days off, will you have a training session, etc… Ask everything on your mind, it will show your interviewer you’re at least interessed by the job.

5. Don’t rush anything

The interview is almost over. The interviewer might ask you when you can start. Never say “right now”. Say “tomorrow” or “next week” instead. Wait a bit, talk to your family/friends about the job to make sure you’re making the right decision. If you can, wait until you can have at least a glimpse at the contract because sometimes the interviewer doesn’t tell you everything about the job (how many hours, how much you’re paid). Wait for them to call you back. And when leaving, you can mention “that you’re looking foward to hearing from them again soon”!!!

I hope this masterpost was helpful and that you’ll nail your interview. If you have any other questions, you know where to find me! Reblog to help your fellow friends if you thought this was useful ✿

Hillary Clinton’s final campaign for office ended in a shocking defeat. But she isn’t going quietly into the night.

“I think the country’s at risk, and I’m trying to sound the alarm so more people will at least pay attention,” Clinton told NPR.

That said, her career as a candidate is over.

“I’m done. I’m not running for office,” Clinton said. But for those, including Democrats, who would like her to just go away? “Well, they’re going to be disappointed,” she said.

“I’m not going anywhere. I have the experience, I have the insight, I have the scars that I think give me not only the right, but the responsibility to speak out,” Clinton said.

In her new campaign memoir, What Happened, and in interviews with Morning Edition’s Rachel Martin and NPR’s Tamara Keith, Clinton talks about her own failings, but she doesn’t hold back on calling out sexism in American politics and heaping criticism on President Trump.

I'm not a shipper, but @ every shippers who want a canon mlm representation, should stop erasing Keith and Shiro's relationship just because it's notp. Because from the look of it they're the ones that seems to have chance in becoming canon. People are screaming broganes! in every posts to the point of sounding like old homophobes, and even from non shipper's view, it's transparent as fuck. Like it'd be easier if people just admit that KL are not important to each other as people make out to be.

Yes, I agree with you wholeheartedly. The very earliest Voltron interview I heard was before the show even released, and when asked about providing more lgbt rep the way they did with korrasami, Lauren said: “We have those first 13 episodes and if we ever went beyond that, we would like to push the envelope.” Which tells me any gay relationship they planned to expand on has been present right from the start. Add to that comments about how “Keith latches onto Shiro,” “Keith’s always scared he’s gonna say or do something wrong that’ll cause him to lose Shiro,” “He supports Keith one hundred percent, he’s stuck his neck out for Keith a lot,” and “Keith and Shiro have the closest relationship”–if they were ever hinting at anything, I think it’s sheith.

From onscreen canon interactions, Keith and Shiro’s relationship has always read as romantic to me. And claiming what they have is just brotherly when it’s so obviously different from Matt and Pidge’s dynamic–I just don’t understand it. So many of Keith and Shiro’s scenes are incredibly intimate. They confide in one another, comfort each other, offer physical reassurances and hold each other close. Keith prioritizes Shiro’s safety first and foremost and literally vows to save him, “as many times as it takes.” We see from Keith’s very first scene a tenderness between them that’s never replicated with anyone else. So much of their relationship reads as a veritable fairytale romance. I don’t think that’s an accident.

It’s really transparent to me when people claim that this season was somehow homophobic for veering further towards allurance or not having Keith interact with Lance?? Like, people are literally claiming the staff don’t care about representation and never had any intention of including it, but?? The crew has already blatantly informed us that it was never their intention to tease Kl/ance, and they directly said they wouldn’t queerbait it. Because it was never there. Fans making serious accusations like this is incredibly transparent–if the only representationthat matters to you is your ship, then I think you should reevaluate why. As a bi guy, kl/ance has always made me uncomfortable and I never saw any precedence for it in canon.

Lauren literally said, “we’re working in animation. Our schedule is so far in advance for that–even if people shipped Keith and Lance, we couldn’t go back and just change the story–to be like and now they’re in love!” When asked about Lance’s future “Mr or Mrs Blue Lion,” Lauren responded exclusively with female pronouns. This isn’t like the bait and switch with building up leader Keith only to throw Shiro back in the pilot seat. Representation is serious, there is no gotcha moment, they’re not continually pushing aside kl/ance so they don’t “ruin the surprise.”

Representation is a very real concern for Joaquim and Lauren, and they’ve already outright said teasing kl/ance was nevertheir intention. They’re completely against queerbaiting. We’ve been definitively told no. If fans are unable to let go of fanon and refuse to acknowledge the narrative we’ve been given, then that’s on them. But it seems hypocritical to me to claim they were led on when they just refused to listen. As Lauren said: “they start out at odds, but then they grow to kind of respect each other. And if that leads into people being like–they’re spending time together! Then that’s a ‘thing,’ but…We’re not trying to cater to or bait anyone into anything, we’re just trying to do what’s right for the story.”

And I’ve seen people claim–but, kl/ance is so popular! The fans love it so much, they shouldn’t discount it just yet! Things can change! And it’s incredibly clear to me that those fans are naive in their understanding of the animation industry. Joaquim said this best: “There’s just no way. We’re already years past that storyline, you know?” He and Lauren outright confirmed they can’t go back and make kl/ance canon, because the decision to do so would’ve had to have been made years ago. Animation is not a medium conducive to major change. That’s just something fans will have to learn to accept.

Lauren and Joaquim really seem like they actually care and they’re fighting for more representation. That means something to me. And if people expect me to feel sorry for fans who harass them simply because they didn’t make their OTP canon and are trying to focus on their own narrative, then they don’t know me. If it’s representation fans are concerned about and not just ships, then they shouldn’t see kl/ance as the only viable source for it. I’m sorry if people were disappointed and wanted representation in another form, I really am. I understand, I do. But I don’t think it’s fair to tear down the creators for it when they’re trying their best and act like kl/ance was somehow our only chance.